Senator Levin Questions U.S. Aid, Urging Pakistan to Stop Insurgents

Five U.S. senators, all Democrats,
asked the State and Defense departments to assess Pakistan’s
commitment to fighting terrorism before Congress approves more
aid for that nation.

“It is incongruous to be providing enormous sums to the
Pakistani military unless we are certain that it is meeting its
commitment to locate, disrupt and dismantle terrorist threats
inside its borders,” the lawmakers said in a letter to
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Gates said during a Pentagon briefing today that he was
resistant to the idea of cutting aid, particularly because there
is no evidence so far that senior Pakistani leaders were in any
way cooperating with al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before the
U.S. raid on his compound that resulted in his death.

“We have to proceed with caution,” Gates said. “We do
have significant interests in Pakistan.”

He later added, “We need to continue the assistance that
we have provided.”

President Barack Obama has proposed $1.2 billion in aid to
Pakistan next year for programs that include counterinsurgency
training for its military forces. The senators are urging the
Obama administration to gauge whether Pakistan’s government is
working to cut support for extremist and terrorist groups,
including al-Qaeda and the Taliban, that operate from its
territory.

They said they were “gravely concerned about the
commitment of Pakistan’s security establishment to fighting
terrorism.”

Yesterday, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said the U.S. should curtail economic aid to Pakistan
unless the Islamabad government stops harboring insurgent groups
that target American troops in neighboring Afghanistan.

Levin, a Michigan Democrat, said continued financial
support to Islamabad should hinge on whether the Pakistani
military takes action against the Haqqani Network, an Afghan
Taliban-allied group based in Pakistan’s northwestern border
region with Afghanistan.

‘Real Problem’

“There is a real problem with continuing financial support
for Pakistan when they continue to support the Haqqani
Network,” Levin told reporters in Washington yesterday. “These
people are killing us. And this is open.”

Pakistan should also arrest members of the Quetta Shura, a
group of Afghan Taliban leaders, thought to be based in
Pakistan, Levin said.

Levin didn’t elaborate on what he would cut from U.S.
economic aid to Pakistan. He said he would allow “certain kinds
of military aid” to continue. In particular, he said, he
supports reimbursing Pakistan for securing the port where U.S.
oil is delivered and subsequently the routes leading into
Afghanistan where U.S. and NATO troops are fighting the Taliban.
Levin said he is also willing to support Pakistani military
training along the border regions with Afghanistan.

At a Senate Foreign Relations hearing yesterday, several
other senators, including Republicans Bob Corker of Tennessee
and James Risch of Idaho, as well as Democrats Chris Coons of
Delaware and Menendez, raised questions about U.S. aid to
Pakistan.

Five-Year Package

Committee Chairman John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, is
one of the architects of a 2009 bill that tripled non-military
aid to Pakistan, committing $1.5 billion annually for five
years. He briefed members of the Senate Democratic Caucus about
his weekend trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan -- the first high-
level official visit to Pakistan since a team of U.S. Navy SEALs
killed bin Laden there on May 2.

While members from both parties questioned continued U.S.
assistance to Pakistan, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell cautioned against threats
to withdraw aid.

Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said the U.S. should “withhold
judgment” and wait for fact-finding. “We need a good
relationship with Pakistan, and hope we can have a good
relationship with Pakistan,” he said. “But this isn’t the time
to start flexing our muscle.”

McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, warned against pulling
back from Pakistan.

“I don’t think disengaging from Pakistan, a nuclear power,
is in America’s best interests,” he said. “There are
certainly, as we have learned, a lot of different factions in
Pakistan, some of which are friendly to us and some of which are
not. We knew that before the Osama bin Laden raid, we still know
that.”